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Tag: the avengers

Veteran British-American actor Patrick Macnee passed away earlier today at his home in Rancho Mirage, CA from natural causes. He was 93.

First and foremost he is remembered as John Steed, the James Bond-esque secret agent in The Avengers opposite the tight-suit-wearing Diana Rigg in the 60s, turning the simple Bowler hat into a weapon. But he was no stranger to genre and non-genre TV all over the map. With his distinctive voice he provided the opening narration for the original Battlestar Galactica (listen to the long form version of the narration – it still gives me chills) as well as the Cylon Emperor, and later appeared in person in a memorable guest role as Count Iblis (along with Baltar recognizing the voice of the Emperor.) No role seemed too small for him either, guesting on shows from War of the Worlds and The Love Boat to even starring in voice-only on Super Force (aside from a brief in-person appearance in the pilot). He even provided his voice to Invisible Jones in the 1998 feature film version of The Avengers.

Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the writing duo behind all three Captain America films including the upcoming Captain America: Civil War (which started filming today), as well as Thor: The Dark World and all three Chronicles of Narnia films, and also created Marvel’s Agent Carter (man these guys are BUSY!), have been signed to take on what will be the climax of Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – Avengers: Infinity War, Parts 1 and 2.

The nominees for the 2013 Hugo Awards were announced yesterday…here they are (with links when available if you want to check them out). The 2013 Hugos will be presented at LoneStarCon 3 in San Antonio, Texas, August 29-September 2, 2013 – the 71st Annual World Science Fiction Convention.

Pretty much as usual, a roundup of the Oscars when looking at the science fiction and fantasy genres is a short article. Even with the expanded Best Picture list, nothing made that list, not even The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Probably the highest level award is the Best Animated Feature, which is at least full of genre entries, with Brave, Frankenweenie, ParaNorman, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, and Wreck-It Ralph filling the sheet.

The dueling Snow White movies, Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman, will duke it out again for Achievement in Costume Design, while The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey did receive nods for Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling, Production Design and Visual Effects, with Snow White and the Huntsman and The Avengers also getting nods in the latter.

Just announced a short time ago, actress Ming-Na (ER, Stargate Universe) will star in the upcoming Joss Whedon TV pilot Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D., based on the secret organization that permeates Marvel’s Avengers universe and featured prominently in the Whedon-directed movie The Avengers.

Ming-Na will play Agent Melinda May, described as “Soulful and slightly damaged by her combat experiences, Melinda is an ace pilot, a weapons expert and a soldier who can — and has — gone beyond the call of duty.” Originally the character was to be named Althea Rice, with the nickname “The Cavalry”, but this was confusing as that is also the name of a team of superheroes.

It was previously announced that Clark Gregg, who has appeared in all the Avenger-related movies as Agent Phil Coulson, will reprise the role in the pilot.

This is just funny…Cookie Monster and Grover from Sesame Street dropped by Entertainment Weekly, and did a few musical numbers about some popular movies, singing about The Hunger Games, The Avengers, Newsroom, and even Doctor Who! Check out the video at EW’s PopWatch…

Don’t forget…the huge blockbuster The Avengers will be released on Blu-ray and DVD this coming Tuesday, September 25th! There is still time to order from Amazon via the above links and if you get two-day shipping (free for Amazon Prime members) and get it on release day!

Now we know what the “live action Marvel TV series” is that was reported when Disney struck a deal with Joss Whedon in the wake of his The Avengers juggernaut: S.H.I.E.L.D., a TV series based on the peacekeeping organization that runs throughout the Marvel universe and prominently in The Avengers.

ABC has given the green light for a pilot to be written by Whedon, his brother Jed Whedon, and Jed’s wife, Maurissa Tancharoen – the team responsible for Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, and have worked together on various other projects including Dollhouse. Joss Whedon may even direct if his schedule permits.

Planning way ahead after confirming that Joss Whedon will be on board for the inevitable sequel to the mega-blockbuster The Avengers, Disney and Marvel Studios have already set a release date of May 1st, 2015, just a day short of a year from The Amazing Spider-Man sequel, which is a year-less-a-day after Iron Man 3. It seems that Marvel wants to own the beginning of May…

Disney CEO Bob Iger announced during the company’s regular earnings call that Joss Whedon is on board to direct a sequel to the blockbuster movie The Avengers – big news enough – but then also said that Whedon is also developing a live action series using Marvel characters! More when we get it…

Update: Marvel Studios confirms the deal, along with a targeted 2015 release for the sequel. Whedon also has an exclusive deal for film and television development with Marvel Studios until the end of June 2015.